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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Anyone know about homework at STA for US?  Our commute will be pretty long.  With the sports requirement and any other ECs, it will be a long day before he even gets home.[/quote]

Everything other posters said about variables (freshman year vs. junior year; working style -- e.g., fast/efficient vs. slower or procrastinator or perfectionist; and course selection -- e.g. most advanced vs. "regular" classes) comes into play.

With that said, I think it's fair to say that with the sports requirement and a long commute, even a relatively moderate homework load (which is what I see St. Albans as being, given that it's a very strong and academically oriented school) can seem very daunting for a tired kid after dinner.  If your son can reliably get started on his work during the school day, it makes a huge difference, because there is a fair amount of time for that built into the schedule.  Basically, St. Albans has a 7-day rotating block schedule.  Most days a student taking 5 courses will have 4 classes a day, which meet for 65 minutes, and one free period.  He will probably also have 1 out of 7 days with only three academic classes.  (Classes meet 5 times in 7 days.)  In addition to the student having a free period 5 out of 7 days, the schedule has built in time for the musical groups (the chorus and orchestra) -- something like 4 times in 7 days, for 50 minutes a day.  So a student could have nearly two hours in a day in which he could get started on homework.

Of course, life isn't that simple.  Kids want to socialize, and they're always hungry so they want to go get snacks.  Juniors and seniors love to drive off campus to eat -- that burns that free period that could have provided 65 minutes on homwork.  Not judging -- I remember being 17 too and I loved to socialize.

If you can really work with your son on being efficient -- ask him to commit to using most, if not all, free periods to work (and maybe send him off to school with some filling food for mid-morning snacks) -- it makes a big difference.  The kids who work during the day are not up late.  [/quote]

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